Now that I'm home an on a keyboard I'll give the full story to do this experience justice.

We got to the pizzeria around 2, and were literally the only people in the place the entire time we were there. As I entered I was instantly greeted by the beautiful oven, but it was running on coals, no flame, and I was a little worried. I then noticed lots of young male staff, but no Nella and my expectations continued to fall. Figured this would be another disappointing stop on my pizza journey. We sat down and after looking over the menu for a while decided on 2 margheritas and one of these white pies, nothing fancy. Nearly the instant we placed our order Nella popped out from the back. She went straight to the oven and added some fresh wood. It instantly ignited. The oven was HOT. Things were looking up, but that wasn't good enough for her. She spent the next 5 minutes coaxing the fire to get exactly what she wanted. She then went over and began opening the dough and dressing the pies. She effortlessly prepped an baked the three pies without an ounce of help from anyone else, just as I've seen her do in videos. I was amazed by the balance of the oven. The pies never left the floor, she even turned then with a very shallow motion that kept them low to the deck, only quickly lifting them to check the bottoms. About 80 seconds later they came out just as you see in the pictures. She is a true master, it was awesome to watch, and her and that oven seem to be in tune.

So why was the pizza so good? It just was. Neapolitan pizza is so simple it amazes me the way "professionals" tend to mess it up. Each ingredient on its own was superb. The crust was so unique I don't know where to begin. I would almost think there was sugar in the dough from the way it browned, but the cook on the base shows no sign of sugar and I am sure there isn't any, but the browning is something I haven't seen in other Neapolitan pizzas. The flavor and texture of the crust were both great. The tomato was great, the cheese was great, the oil was great, but the key there is the way they were prepared and applied. The cheese was diced into something close to 3/8" pieces if I had to guess, and applied pretty generously. It was perfectly sized for the heat in the oven, and melted wonderfully while slowly blending into the tomato along with the oil around the edges. Everything came together in the perfect balance.

I left knowing I had eaten my first pizza produced by a true master, and after getting a chance to talk with her a little I will say she is very humble about her talent.

Will be opening up our second location in carol stream before thanksgiving here are some new pizza chef nella has created besides the buffalina. ONE IS ANNARELLA WITH SAUSAGE BELL PEPPERS SMOKED MOZZARELLA ,ISCHIA IS MOZZARELLA BURRATA GRILLED ZUCHINI ,BIANCO NERO WHITE TRUFFLE OIL MOZZARELLA PORCINI MUSHROOMS BLACK TRUFFLE.